1800 Seconds
by Andorian Ice Princess-AIP
Summary: AU When your life is on the line and you don't know the fate of your best friend and fellow Firefighter even a half hour can seem like a painful eternity. For Casey and Severide their radio silence would be the longest half hour of their careers so far. Based on eppy 4.13 'The Sky is Falling' My missing #sevasey broment


**Title: 1800 Seconds**

 **Summary: AU** When your life is on the line and you don't know the fate of your best friend and fellow Firefighter even a half hour can seem like a painful eternity. For Casey and Severide their radio silence would be the longest half hour of their careers so far. Based on eppy 4.13 'The Sky is Falling' My missing #sevasey broment

 **Disclaimer:** Same as always. I own nothing but my muse and my love for my boys #teamsevasey and of course putting them into danger.

 **A/N:** Seriously CF writers can't you at least make our boys have one broment? Right…I guess they need to make them talk first lol so I had to remedy my muse's #sevasy withdrawals and hope you all like this little one shot. And yes this is AU b/c in the eppy well…nothing major happened – it was a very intense but only a defining moment for Chili lol But in any case…please enjoy!

NOTE: As 'always' _"words in italics and double quotes taken directly from the eppy." Just italics are thoughts and single is a past convo._

* * *

 _"…engine 51…truck 81…squad 3…ambulance 61…battalion 25…fire reported at…"_

It wasn't the call they had been expecting, especially after just watching the current 'bomb threat' at base of the Tower on the news…all surrounding companies en route or already there helping with the mas evacuation. They expected the next call would be for them…calling them into action to come and join the current ranks in getting everyone out safe so that another 9-11 wouldn't be plastered all over every form of news and social media outlet while the rest of the country…the world stood by and watched.

But this call…it wasn't something they'd expect and that...is exactly what two men wanted. A community center and social development building; an establishment with people going about their daily lives…their routines as they did every day, some not even realizing…not giving it much thought – today would be their last.

As soon as Boden pulls up, he notices both trucks already there and a handful of his first responders already inside.

 _"Chief…we're in the building…don't see smoke anywhere."_

 _"Ambo's already on their way in," Boden tells Casey in response._

 _"Copy Chief. Severide…you and Capp fan out…I'll take Herrmann with me and finish the first floor and then head down to the basement."_

 _"Copy Casey," Severide replies; Boden paying rapt attention._

"Capp, let's head to the north stairwell and go up. Make sure we check every room. Don't want any surprises…"

"Or anyone leaking their failed rescue to social media," Casey adds as both he and Severide give each other a firm nod. "But stay alert. The whole city's on edge right now so it could go south very fast."

Casey's rewarded with a small chorus of 'copy that' from the men around him including the few squad members and the four of them slowly part ways.

"Think it's a prank," Herrmann states with a small huff as he looks at Casey with a heavy frown.

"Maybe…I don't smell any smoke," Casey replies with a heavy sigh as they head for the opposite end of the hallway from Severide and Capp. "Maybe…a kid pulled it in haste or…" Casey mutters as they slowly head down the stairs and enter the basement area. "Alright…check the other side of the floor and then head back up."

"Copy," Hermann answers in a low tone before he pulls away from Casey and disappears around the corner. Casey watches him go and then turns and heads into a room labelled 'mechanical room'. He steps inside, telling himself that perhaps if there was to be any kind of fire detection it most likely could come from any of the aging electrical components; aside of course from a faulty alarm switch.

 _"Chief,"_ Casey starts to give Boden an update. _"Still no sign of fire here. Thinking it's a false alarm."_

But just as Boden's about to reply, Capp and Severide round the corner and stop short – looking at a man who hurries toward them with a frantic look on his face. He holds up his finger to his lips as he nears; his expression one of silent panic.

"What's going on?" Severide asks in haste.

"There's about 15…trapped in…" his voice rattles off in a hasty but hushed tone as Severide looks at Capp and then radio's Casey's team.

"Hermann's on his way up…he'll escort him out."

"Copy," Severide replies as he looks at Capp. "Let's take care of the 15 others."

 _"Alright…let's go ahead and get those 15 out," Boden instructs to his teams on the inside._ He signals to the rest of the teams who wait on standby to be ready to assist the 15 as they come out in case any of them were injured.

Severide pulls away from Herrmann and Capp, telling them the 15 civilians are their top priority and he'd finish the sweep of the building and get Casey on his way out. He hurries toward the end of the hallway, relaying the information to Casey as he ducks into one room and then heads for another.

"Almost done here," Casey answers firmly as he hurries toward the large and well-aged instrument panel. But just as he does…and before Hermann and Capp can get the other 15 to safety, Cruz notices some movement on the roof and quickly points it out to Boden.

But just as he brings attention to the mysterious man dressed in black, all of them instantly stop short when they hear some very familiar and sickening sounds.

*bang* *bang* *bang*

Severide instantly stops mid-stride on the stairs; Casey pauses his actions and all hold their breaths for what seems like a small eternity. Then the call all first responders dread…

 _"Mayday! Mayday! We got an active shooter…"_

Boden watches in horror as people start to run from the building; panic and screams filling the air and those outside trying to instill some sort of uniform rescue now forced to react accordingly.

The man on the roof appears…a gun is raised and the unthinkable happens.

 _"Hey stop! No! Go back!"_

But it's too late….the shooter takes aim – hatred his only motivation. And he fires. The first body jerks in response. Falls to the ground; writhing in pain. The second…the third falls. None of them get up and Boden can only watch in helpless horror; his mind now racing about his men still trapped inside.

 _"Casey! Severide! Anyone inside! Hold your positions until we can secure the area! Do you copy!"_

Casey pulls away, silently tiptoeing toward the entrance to the room; the sounds of the pipes, machines and gunfire all going off at once and interfering with his radio and taking away any clear communication. "Severide…Hermann…Capp…do you copy? Brett? Chili!"

"Copy that," Hermann replies; Severide listening as he carefully makes his way down the stairwell.

 _"Find a safe place and stay there."_

"Capp and I are in the room with the 15," Hermann relays as he tries to quietly lock the door. "Safe…for now."

No sooner does he get off the radio but more shots are heard…screams…getting closer. Trying to calm his rapidly beating heart and knowing that he has nothing to defend himself with, Casey removes his hand and slowly nears the opening to the door. Praying he can look out into the hallway and not be seen.

Casey's focus slowly comes into sharp view…eyeing the gunman in black just as he blasts a hole into one of the closed and locked doors. _Oh God…this…_ his mind trails off in silent panic as he tells himself to stay sharp…alert and just focus.

He ducks back inside, puts his helmet on and readies his haligan; knowing it's not much good against a semi-automatic weapon but if this is to be his last stand he wasn't going down without a fight!

A few more shots…a distant scream and he can only pray his heart rate doesn't explode on him entirely. He looks back once more; the gunman steps into the room, firing as he goes. Figuring he's safe Casey steps out, eyeing the stairwell behind him and telling himself he needs to make a break for it.

But just before he does, he hears heavy footsteps coming his way and prepares himself; raising his tool and telling himself it's the shooter or him.

"Casey!"

"Severide…" Casey whispers as he quickly drops his weapon. "Have you heard from Hermann or Capp?"

"Yeah…they got the 15 out. Now we need to get ourselves out."

"What about…"

"We need to go radio silent because o…" Severide starts just as he hears some shuffling behind them and then quickly turns to see the gunman appear back into the hallway.

The gunman raises his weapon to fire; Severide shouting at Casey to duck while at the same time trying to pull his friend out of harm's way.

He succeeds…to a degree.

"I'm hit!" Casey shouts as he stumbles into Severide's grasp; the two of them taking a small tumble backward. The gunman running toward them with his gun firing off another few shots. But before they can do any more damage, Severide manages to pull Casey back into the mechanical room and slam the door shut.

The gunman fires at the door; Severide ushering Casey toward the back and then frantically looking around for something…anything they could defend themselves with. But just as he's about to reach for something, he watches in horror as Casey's frame starts to sag to the floor.

"Damn it! Casey!" Severide shouts as the heavy object clatters to the floor and he hurries to his friend's side. "Where'd…"

"Side…" Casey grunts as they both hear a few more shots fired into the door. "Kelly…"

"Yeah I know he'll be in here any second," Severide states in a panic as he looks back at Casey's anguished expression. "I have an idea. Hold on a sec."

Casey's mind tries to get his throat to swallow any kind of fluid he has inside; none is found and he's forced to lie as still as possible as the gunman bursts into the room. Severide watches from his hidden vantage point as the gunman nears Casey's fallen frame with his gun raised.

Then he acts…he doesn't think…he just reacts. Taking a deep breath and then barreling into the body of the gunman; the two of them stumbling over Casey's frame. Casey's lips utter a painful grunt as he tries to roll out of the way; Severide hitting the gunman with the butt end of his axe and causing him to falter.

Despite his waning energy. Casey's not about to just lie still and let Severide to all the work, so he brings his legs up and manages to muster enough strength to get the gunman away from Severide a few feet.

Severide's lips utter an angry grunt as he brings his arms up and manages to get the head of the axe under the chin of their attacker, snapping his head upright and then hitting him again with added force so that he's finally knocked off his feet for good.

"Stay down!" Severide growls as he hits their attacker once more, his head snapping backward against the side of the wall and rendering him unconscious. He takes the gun and then looks back down at Casey. "Matt!"

"Yeah…still here…." Casey gasps as he tries to sit upright.

"Okay let's see…" Severide starts as he pulls Casey's jacket open and then looks at the fresh pool of blood on his lower right side. "Spleen maybe…maybe nothing…don't know but…" he pauses as he wads up a pad from his pocket and then presses it against Casey's side.

Casey bites back a painful moan, not wanting to alert the other shooter to their location but at the same time unable to fully hold back his pain. "That'll hafta do."

"Okay…I think one more shooter…SWAT's on it's way...we gotta move," Severide states in a small huff as he puts his arm around Casey's waist and helps him slowly stand upright. "You good?"

"Yeah…slow and steady," Casey nods as he bites back a painful gasp.

Severide takes a deep breath and the two of the slowly start to walk toward the entrance of the mechanical room; pausing at the entrance to look and listen.

"Smell smoke," Casey whispers as Severide's eyes frantically scans the hallway and then up at the stairwell, his mind wondering which exit would be the fastest and the safest. "Go…"

"You're not exactly light weight," Severide retorts with a soft whisper as Casey tries to swallow back a smirk. They hope the smoke will help motivate the shooter to seek fresh air and expose himself to the CPD or the active members of SWAT. Severide pauses on the first landing, the two of them pausing to listen as a few more shots are heard.

"Damn…still active," Severide whispers as the smoke starts to flirt with their tender lungs…teasing them with some coughs that threatened to give them away; making this their possible final resting place. But as he feels Casey's frame starting to falter in his grasp and with smoke starting to gain momentum he knows neither of them will last very long out in the open; but not really wanting to spend more time in the suffocating death trap.

"One more level," Severide tells Casey as they slowly start to climb the next set of stairs, nearing the top that would deposit them on the first floor and then hopefully outside.

"What about…Brett and Chili?" Casey questions softly as they reach the top.

"Not sure…we'll…" Severide starts only to be cut off by a few more shots; forcing them to deviate from their current course toward the nearest exit and take cover inside another office room. "Damn it!" Severide replies in haste as he tries to close the door. But he misjudges the forces he puts behind it; making it slam and bringing the shooter still inside rushing toward them.

"Look out!" Severide shouts as he pushes Casey to the ground and then tries to roll and duck for cover. The glass window shatters instantly; bullets flying overhead and slamming into walls, chairs, furniture and the floor. "Casey!" Severide shouts as he gunman hurries toward Casey, grabbing him by the arm of his coat and dragging his flailing frame away from Severide.

"End of the line tough guys!" The gunman growls as he raises his gun and prepares to fire. "STOP!" He shouts as Severide as Severide, now on his knees tries to slowly crawl toward Casey; the gunman forcing him to halt – or else.

"He's…look man we're just trying to…help," Severide tries in a desperate plea as Casey looks over at him in torment.

"End…of the line…" the gunman hisses as he aims his gun down at Casey's head and prepares to fire.

Casey looks over at Severide and both of them hold their breaths, the world starting to slow around them; the smoke gaining strength and time running out. But just before either of them can take another breath or even blink, a few shots ring out and the situation is finally remedied.

"Casey!" Severide shouts as he quickly crawls over to Casey, applying pressure to the wound and forcing Casey's eyes to snap back open.

"Shooter…" Casey offers with a small gasp.

"SWAT got them…it's over," Severide tells him in truth as he quickly hoists Casey back upright; Casey's lips grunting in pain as he's forced back on his feet. By the time they reach the exit, Severide's mostly dragging Casey but at least the tormented situation has come to an end.

 _"It's over…" Boden tells them_ as he helps Severide put Casey onto the stretcher and then stands back as the medics ready him for transport. "Good job."

Severide hops into the back of the ambulance as it pulls away from the scene of the bloody carnage; his head dropping to his palms as his elbows rest on his knees. He offers a small prayer of thanks and then leans back against the side of the bus, closing his eyes for a few minutes and finally letting all his anxiety dissipate.

XXXXXXXX

"Hey…" Severide greets as he enters Casey's recovery room about an hour later; a gangly green plant in his grasp.

"What the…"

"From 51," Severide smirks as he places the plant on the small table beside his friend's bed and then gives Casey a brief hug; pulling back and giving him a friendly nod. "Damn…what a day."

"Thanks…for coming back for me."

"Course," Severide nods in agreement.

"What was the count in the end?"

"Four dead and seven wounded," Severide answers in truth. "All for…hate," Severide continues as he recalls Boden's angry confession. "So senseless. But at least it was over pretty fast."

"Fast?" Casey's brows arch.

"Half hour."

"Really?"

"From the time I found you in the basement to the time we finally left that damn building."

"1800 seconds."

"Seriously?" Severide retorts in amusement. "You just…pulled that number out of your head?"

"Google it," Casey tosses back as Severide's lips purse. But undeterred he pulls his phone and complies, Casey offering him a small laugh as Severide shakes his head and grumbles under his breath. "Well longest 1800 seconds of my life."

"Yeah…mine to," Casey confesses with a weary tone as Severide slumps into a nearby chair. "I'm okay now."

"Yeah…I don't mind hanging around here a bit longer…see if you can come up with any more mathful insights."

"Mathful?" Casey looks at Severide as he snickers. "That isn't even a word."

"Google it," Severide tosses back this time as Casey just shakes his head and tries to stifle a yawn.

"Google it," Casey mocks as he closes his eyes and settles back in his bed, happy that despite the intense agitation of the day, he could rest easily now, knowing his best friend was there; just like he had been when his life was on the line. Severide looks up to see Casey asleep and then looks up at the news as it silently plays in the background. _Casey was right…it was the longest 1800 seconds of my life…_

He gets a text from Boden and knows the words to be truthful:

 _"…there's always hope. As long as there's good people in this world…here's to hope."_

1800 seconds later he too was asleep.

* * *

 **THE END!**

 **A/N:** hope you all liked it and please do review (especially you lame lurkers lol) before you go and thanks so much!


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